Christmas Adventure
There's a certain person that Garmr likes to keep happy because she's a convenient friend. Normally when she needs a favor, Wei and Taw help her out, but they're not back yet so Flik's secretary (Ben, we decided) asks Aegis for help. Ken, Tim, and Zaizen go to meet her. Turns out it's Anna-Marina von Westbrot, whom they've met before. She's surprised to see them but even more surpised to learn none of the three know about what happened with Christmas last year. It seems while we were out of the world, something happened last Christmas that was so bad the whole earth sphere decided to just postpone the holiday and reschedule it. So now Christmas is in 2 days! Anna-Marina's grandson wants only one thing, the Perfect Grade Plus Gundam Astray Red Frame Model Kit. It's super rare and only a few stores are selling it. You have to pick up in person, so she sends the three of them. They're outside the store before it opens and each of them take notice of someone. (the players got a lot of freedom in helping to craft who the NPC they'd run into would be) Ken sees an old rival from his dojo named Iori. They don't have the best relationship so he's not sure exactly how to approach at first. Tim sees Goliath, the doctor from one of the old bases he worked on. He starts to approach. Zaizen notices a girl who catches his eye because she gives him the same vibe he has... she seems sneaky. While other people are milling around, she seems to be looking very carefully at the crowd. He decides to keep an eye on her. Ken approaches Iori and immediately launches back into their old confrontational relationship, like "hey you piece of shit" which catches Iori off guard, but then they go back and forth a bit. Eventually Ken punches Iori, who tries to retaliate but doesn't get a good hit. The fight gets broken up by the crowd. Goliath tries to check on Iori but gets brushed off. He turns away and runs into Tim. It takes him a moment to recognize him, but then, "Goliath!" "Toolman!" and the large man scoops him into a hug. He's very happy to see him. They weren't close friends but they have a friendly relationship. Goliath's happy to see Tim's still alive. The girl Zaizen noticed takes advantage of the fight to sneak her way through the crowd and get all the way to the door. Zaizen follows and then talks to her. Her name is Erika and Zaizen manages to get her to confess she's trying to get the red frame because she's a massive Gunpla otaku. When the door opens, Zaizen is at the front of the crowd. The toy store is massive, ostentatious, and completely covered in christmas decorations. There are lights, signs, and inflatables everywhere. Music is playing in every direction creating a cacophony of chaos. The store has become a labyrinth. Tim and Ken notice Zaizen is heading down the wrong path and try to get his attention. Zaizen needs to get back through the scuffling crowd so he grabs a giant Santa inflatable, smacks it down on the crowd, then jumps and bounces over the crowd. It's super cool. While he's in midair he also catches Erika running down a certain path. They decide to make chase. they run into the Educational Games aisle, completely abandoned, and are stopped by Rosebot, the Trivia Robot. It wants them to play a game. Zaizen tries to get past it, and it moves to stop them. It demands they play the trivia game. "Let's play the trivia game! Select a mode: Child, or Expert" they choose Child, of course. "Select a category: History, Mecha, Current Events, BETA, Sports" They choose Mecha. "Name a robot." Tim says "Rosebot," which is correct. Rosebot then detects an error and adjusts to Expert Mode. The questions are significantly harder. Mecha is "What is the Model Number of the TSF Terminator?" They guess SU-43, but it's SU-37. Close! For BETA, "What is the largest BETA species?" At this point Zaizen tries to kick the robot, and it responds by shooting flames from its jets to set him on fire. They decide to just play the rest of the game. They answer "Mother class," and Rosebot starts to say they're wrong and the answer is Bastion, but it gets an update mid-sentence and says they're correct but they got the height wrong. History, "In the year 2044, how many space colonies existed?" They guessed "0" but the answer was "28". For Sports, "Who was the Major League Baseball MVP in 2156?" Ken answered "Ha- Shuuto Yamada," but the answer was "Carlos Caledorno." And finally for current events, "Please explain the details of the recent trade agreement between Sanc and Erste." They answered some bullshit but the answer was a tariff adjustment of -1.5% on aluminum imports. After failing all 5 questions, Rosebot offers a bonus question. "It's time for a BONUS ROUND! Let's play Stump Rosebot! I'll warn you, I know everything in this world! You win if you tell me something I don't know, but it's impossible! What a fun game. Are you ready?!" Immediately Tim says "What are Arm Slaves?" Rosebot starts to self destruct as it can tell Tim is talking about a real thing but there's no way for it to know. Its head explodes. They have a clear shot to the gunpla section. They see Erika lying on the floor, beaten up. She says Iori got here at the same time and beat her up and took the last Red Frame. She also says she's had runins with him before and knows where he lives, so she'll tell Aegis if they want to go get some revenge. They agree. The three of them approach Iori's quite large 3 story house Ken and Tim approach the front and Zaizen goes around back. Ken starts to slip on the ice on the stairs but holds it together, but Tim starts to fall. Ken grabs him and the two fall down the stairs together. Meanwhile in the back, Zaizen looks in the window and then tries the back door. It's unlocked, but the doorknob is superheated and burns his hand. Zaizen passes out from shock. In the front yard Ken goes again and tries the door. He knocks, then knocks louder. The mail slot opens and a gun fires, bouncing off Ken's AT field. Giving up on the front door they go around back and find Zaizen. They revive him and use snow to cool the doorknob down to get inside. On the first floor they find a christmas tree and not much else. Ken and Zaizen see Iori at the top of the stairs, and he yells at them to leave him alone. Skeptical of the stairs, Ken tries to climb up the banister. Iori drops slime on it to make it slippery and Zaizen just shoots him. He drops the slime, making the entire stairwell slippery before he runs away. Ken slips off the banister and hits the stairs, then starts falling down the stairs until the 5th stair collapses under him. He hits the basement. Zaizen uses the Christmas Tree to make a bridge and gets upstairs. Iori throws a bunch of little cars on the ground before escaping through a door. Zaizen carefully gives chase. Downstairs, Ken tries to find a way upstairs but the stairs are covered in tar. It takes him a bit, but he starts using dryer sheets to cover the tar. Meanwhile Tim is trying doors on the first floor and one of them is rigged to a trap that fires staples into him. He has a staple in his cheek and two in his body. Ken almost steps on a nail, but it just goes through his shoe. He reaches the 1st floor and Tim opens the door for him. The two are reunited but have no interest in proceeding. Zaizen starts up the staircase to the 3rd floor and ducks under a trap. Upstairs he sees three doors and kicks the middle door down. He's greeted by a blowtorch setting his hair on fire. Iori is in this room standing in front of the Red Frame. Zaizen shoots Iori in the knee. Suddenly Goliath appears behind him and smashes his head with a snowshovel. Zaizen kicks him, then Goliath hits him again and knocks him right out. Goliath calls down to Tim and Ken to take their friend and get out of here. The two of them make their way upstairs (tripping on the 2nd floor car trap, but dodging the staircase trap). They encounter Iori and Goliath. Everything comes to light now. Iori wants the Red Frame to sell it for a bunch of money. He needs money to pay off some debts so he can start a new life and try to get his son back, as boy's mother has total custody now. It really is a just cause and it gives Ken and Tim a lot of pause. They decide after a long discussion to take him to meet Anna-Marina and let him sell it to her in person. They all meet her at the rendezvous point. Anna-marina has someone load the Red Frame onto her shuttle and she hands over money to Iori. He gives some of it right back to her, paying off the debt he actually owed her. Anna-Marina takes off in her ship and a small shuttle flies away from it, then Zaizen gets a text message saying "Thanks!". Erika has stolen the Red Frame after all. Ken gives Iori his contact info, but Iori really is trying to go legit now so he hopes he won't have to use it. Tim tries to exchange contact info with Goliath, and he finally comes clean that it's not a good idea. "I don't know all the details, and I don't wanna know, but you're a dead man. I'm happy to see that's not true, but as long as I'm workin' for the military, it's probably best you go on being dead. But as long as you're alive while you're dead, take care of yourself." Anna-Marina promises lavish christmas presents for the 3 men (to be determined) and they go back to Garmr Base. end of event so new NPCs! Ben the garmr secretary Erika the sneaky gunpla lover Doctor Joshua Strongbear "Goliath" Sweet Iori the rogue fighter trying to go straight